SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 

UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



HE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL 
AND TRACK, AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE 
COLLECTION IN THE U.S. 
NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



BY 



J. ELFRETH WATKINS, 

Curator of the Section of Transportation and Engineering, 



From the Report of the National Museum, i888-'8g, pages 651-708. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
189I. 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 

UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



JL^ZX. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL 

AND TRACK, AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE 

COLLECTION IN THE U. S. 

NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



BY 



J. ELFRETH WATKINS, 

Curator of the Section of Transportation and Engineering. 



From the Report of the National Museurr., >i88?-'35^ pages £51-7^8. 



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WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
/ 189I. 



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OCT 15 1904 
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK, AS ILLUS- 
TRATED BY THE COLLECTION IN THE U, S. NATIONAL MUSEUM. 




By J. Elfreth Watkins, 

Curator of the Department of Transportation and Engineering. 



In the brief report upou the section of steam transportation for the 
year 1887, a statement was made to the effect that considerable in- 
formation had been secured which it was hoped to use " iu preparing a 
series of models to illustrate the beginnings and development of the 
English and American systems of track. 

"While illustrated histories of the steamboat and locomotive are 
numerous, I am not aware that any systematic attempt has been made 
to preserve the history of the development of the systems of permanent 
way which, after many years of experiment, are now being reduced to 
a series of standards depending on the traffic." (Report of U. S. 
National Museum, 1887, p. 79.) 

These expectations were realized to a sufficient extent to warrant 
the preparation of the series of original rail sections, models, and 
drawings to illustrate the origin and development of American perma- 
nent way for the Exposition at Cincinnati in 18S8. 

The interest manifested in that collection led me to present a paper 
entitled "The Development of the American Rail and Track" at the 
annual convention of the American Society of Civil Engineers, at Sea 
Bright, New Jersey, June 21, 1889. This will appear in the transac- 
tions of that society during the coming year.* 

At the conclusion of that paper I took occasion to state that in its 
preparation " I preferred to confine ui3'self to a description of such rails 
as are represented by original sections, models, or drawings in the 
section of transportation and engineering in the U. S. National 
Museum." 

u I am fully conscious that I have been compelled to overlook raanj 
things which are of great historical interest, owing to the fact that our 
collection is small — only a nucleus in realit3 T ." 

*See Transactions of the American Society of Civil Eugineers, April, 1890, p. 209- 
2*2. 

651 



652 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 

Although some additions to the collection have since been made, a 
large portion of the facts here stated, together with many of the illus- 
trations, also appear in the original paper. 

GOOD TRACK AS IMPORTANT AS THE LOCOMOTIVE. 

As the improved wagon roads in the past made it practicable to 
transfer the burden from the pack mule to the wheel vehicle, and tbe 
traveler from the saddle horse to the light, comfortable, and rapidly 
moving carriage, so the development of the iron railway of the nine- 
teenth century has made it possible for us to enjoy the safety, speed, 
and comfort of the express train of to-day, drawn by the fleet and 
powerful ljcomotive. 

In considering the improvement in methods of transportation, I am 
led to think that there is a tendency to overestimate the benefits aris- 
ing from the invention and improvement of the locomotive, and to 
overlook what has been done by those who devoted time and thought 
to the development of the various systems of permanent way. 

The improvement made in track construction in England during the 
first quarter of the century made the introduction of the locomotive 
there possible. 

Trevithick's locomotive of 1804, crude as it was, would have been 
much more successful, and might have brought him much greater fame 
as one of the first inventors of the locomotive, had the track upon 
which it ran been constructed according to modern methods. 

Long before the locomotive was a practical machine the advantages 
of the cast-iron tramroad were fully appreciated. 

By careful calculation a distinguished London engineer, in 1802, 
found that while it cost 3s. Ad. per ton per mile to transport bulky 
freight over turnpikes, the cost on iron horse tramroads was only one- 
tenth, Ad. 

George Stephenson, while president of the " British Carrying Com- 
panies," stated "that by the introduction of the horse tramroad the 
monthly expense of that company for coal carriage alone had been re- 
duced from £1200 to £300. 

An edition of " Wood's Treatise of Railroads," published in 1830, 
which was one of the earliest and most reliable standard works on 
railroad subjects, calls attention to the economical operation of the 
coal railroad, 9 miles long, near Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, then 
operated by horse power, and states that by this method "it has re- 
paid its whole cost since 1827." 

On a large proportion of the American railways projected before 
1830, it was intended that horse power should be used. 

In Austria the advantages of a horse tramway were also understood. 

In 1828 thirty-nine miles of the horse railway from Budweis to Liutz — 
constructed across the mountains which separate the Moldau and the 
Danube — was opened to traffic. This road was extended 41 miles 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 653 

farther in 1832, aud for many years paid a dividend of 5 per cent, upon 
a capitalization of 810,000 a mile, being subsequently increased to a 
length of 130 miles in 1839. 

The modern horse railways in our cities and their suburbs earn hand- 
some dividends by carrying passengers at a lower fare per mile than 
the steam railway companies find profitable. 

THE IRON COAL ROAD. 

The circumstances connected with the origin of the iron railroad, 
and particularly the relations which existed between coal, iron and the 
railway in the beginning, are of the greatest interest. Man's physical 
necessities exert a powerful influence upon the inventive faculties, and 
the trite proverb arising therefrom is nowhere better exemplified than 
in the history of the conception, birth, and growth of the railroad. 

The demand for a new fuel to replace the faggot and the log was 
the necessity that became more and more urgent as the forest disap 
peared to satisfy the demands of a dense population. This condition 
of affairs directed thought toward devising improved methods for 
transporting pit coal from the collieries of Great Britain to the adja- 
cent navigable streams or near seaports. 

Although coal had been mined in England as early as the middle of 
the ninth century, it was not until 1259 that Henry III granted the 
privilege of digging coal to certain persons in Newcastle. By the be- 
ginning of the fourteenth century it had become an important article 
of export, and was called " sea cole," owing to the fact that it was 
shipped by vessels to various ports. 

EARLY USE OF IRON. 

Several methods of iron making were understood and practiced by 
the ancients. 

The Bible bears evidence in many texts to the high esteem in which 
the iron worker was held. Tubal Cain is described in Geuesis iv as 
l 'an instructor of every artifice in brass and iron." In alluding to the 
Israelites in Deuteronomy iv is the statement: "For the Lord hath 
taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of 
Egypt." 

Processes of making iron were known to the Babylonians and Assyr- 
ians. The stones in the celebrated bridge said to have been built by 
Nitocris were held together by bands of iron kept in place by molten 
lead. . "Among the ruius of Sargon's palace objects of iron aud bronze, 
such as hooks and rings, chains, pickaxes, hammers, ploughshares, 
weapons, fragments of chariots, and tools of all sorts were picked up." 

The Phoenicians, Persians, and even the Chinese were acquainted 
with processes of forging iron centuries before the Christian era; aud 
in India, in the temple of Kuttub at Delhi, there stands a pillar of solid 



654 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 

forged iron over 16 inches in diameter and nearly 60 feet nigh, supposed 
to have been erected in the third century. 

But these methods must be included among the lost arts — arts lost in 
the great abyss of the middle ages, which swallowed up so many of the 
results of the skill and ingenuity of the ancient world. 

But among the Greeks and the ancient nations of the Orient, as we 
learn from Homer, the early historians, and the latest inscriptions and 
archaeological discoveries, iron was once regarded as a precious metal. 
Homer's elaborate description of the shield of Achilles, forged by Vul- 
can, undoubtedly shows that the art of working iron was fully under- 
stood in that semifabulous epoch.* 

Iron first came into use in the arts and manufactures when Spain 
flourished under the Visigoths, who are said to have derived it from 
their ancestors, the Scythians, of whose history so little is definitely 
known. Spanish iron brought high prices for many years. 

THE IRON INDUSTRY IN ENGLAND. 

Early in the fifteenth ceutury many blast furnaces were in existence 
in France, and soon afterward they were introduced in Sussex, Kent, 
and Surrey, in England, and this gave impetus to the iron*industry of 
England. As the processes of extracting iron from various ores be- 
came more fully understood, the demand increased, and in order to 
keep up the supply great inroads were made each year upon the forests 
for fuel. 

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) the iron industry 
increased so rapidly that the consumption of wood became a most seri- 
ous matter, as iron was then smelted exclusively by charcoal. 

The destruction of the forests was so rapid that Parliament passed 
acts in 1558, 1581, and 1584 restricting the cutting of wood for char- 
coal, and thus the iron industry languished for over a century. 

In the meantime thought had been directed to the processes of smelt- 
ing iron with pit coal. Sturdevant's method, although patented in 1611, 
was not practicable; and Dudley, who eight years after solved the prob- 
lem with some success, was so much abused by the charcoal smelters, 
that fearing bodily injury he too abandoned the business. Nothing 
further seems to have been done toward using coal for smelting iron ore 
in England during the seventeenth century. 

THE IRON INDUSTRY IN AMERICA. 

As early as 1621 a considerable quantity of iron was produced in Vir- 
ginia, and that colony led the industry until 1628, when Massachusetts 
forged ahead. 

As wood fuel was plenty in America the industry grew so rapidly 
that Parliament passed an act in 1660 prohibiting the exportation of 

* Manual of Oriental Antiquities, Ernest Babelen, p. 125. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 655 

iron from the colonies except in English ships ; and in 1679 a duty of 
10s. was imposed by the British Government upon each ton of pig iron 
exported. 

In 1750, about 3,500 tons of pig iron having been imported into Eng- 
land from America, a law was passed by Parliament removing this 
duty, but prohibiting all persons in the colonies, under penalty of £200, 
from erecting a forge or working a tilt hammer or a rolling mill. This 
was one of the " grievances" that instigated the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

The historian Bancroft, commenting on this fact, says : 

America abounded in iron ore ; its un wrought iron was excluded from the English 
market, and its people were rapidly gaining skill at the furnace and forge. In Feb- 
ruary, 1750, the subject engaged the attention of the Honse of Commons. After a 
few days' deliberation a bill was brought in which permitted American iron in its 
rudest forms to be imported duty free; but now that the nailers in the colonies could 
afford spikes and large nails cheaper than the English, it forbade the smiths of Amer- 
ica to erect any mills for slitting or rolling iron, or any plating forge to work with a 
tilt.* 

In 1761 less than 17,000 tons of iron had been made in all Great Brit- 
ain and over 4,500 tons had been imported from America. 

COAL-MINE TRAMROADS. 

The earliest railways were laid in the coal mines and from the mines 
to the adjacent water courses. These ways consisted of squared timber 
rails laid in the ground, held to gauge by cross timbers, to which they 
were fastened by wooden pins. 

Roger North in 1672, in his biography of his brother Francis, the 
Lord Chancellor, describes a wooden railway which he had seen at 
Newcastle during the reign of Charles II, as follows: "The manner 
of the carriage is by laying rails of timber from the colliery down to 
the river exactly straight and parallel, and bulky carts are made with 
rowlets fitting these rails, whereby the carriage is so easy that one 
horse will draw 4 or 5 chaldrons of coals." The Newcastle chaldron 
weighed 5,936 pounds, so that one horse hauled 8 or 9 tons. 

EARLY AMERICAN COAL MINES. 

Coal was mined in America as early as 1770 on the James River in 
Virginia, and was used at the Westham foundry to manufacture shot 
and shell during the Eevolutionary War. 

* The exact wording of the act as finally passed was as follows: "And that pig 
and har iron in his Majesty's colonies in America may he further manufactured in 
this kingdom, he it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after 
the 24th day of June, 1750, no mill or other engine for slitting or rolling of iron, or 
any plating forge to work with a tilt hammer, or any furnace for making steel, 
shall he erected, or after such erection continued in His Majesty's colonies in America ; 
and if any person or persons shall erect or cause to he erected, or after such erection 
continue, or cause to he continued, in any of the said colonies, any such mill, engine, 
forge or furnace, every person or persons so offending shall, for every such mill, 
engine, forge or furnace, forfeit the sum of 200 pounds lawful money of Great 
Britain." 



G56 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



Ashbel Welcb, in the Presidential address at the annual convention 
of the American Society of Civil Engineers at Washington in 1882 
states that, ' ; About the year 1817 Josiah White and Erskine Hazard 
commenced the improvement of the Lehigh River, and made other 
preparations to inaugurate the anthracite coal trade. In 1820 they sent 
to market 365 tons, which was the beginning of the regular anthracite 
coal trade of America." 

Before 1825 coal mining commenced to be an industry in the Schuyl- 
kill and Lehigh regions. In this country, as in England, the earliest 
railroads were built in and from the coal mines at Mauch Chunk, 
Honesdale, and Potts ville in Pennsylvania aud Chester field in Vir- 
ginia to the nearest navigable streams. 

The first locomotive that ever turned a driving wheel on a railroad 
on the Western Continent was imported from England in 1829,* for use 
on the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company's coal road at Honesdale, 
Pennsylvania. 

As the supply of coal was increased by improved methods of mining 
and cheaper means of transportation, it gradually superseded charcoal 
in the manufacture of iron. The cost of pig iron was reduced from £10 
10s. in 1G60 to £3 in 1760, and the price did not vary much from this 
until the American Revolution cut off the supply of iron that England 
had been receiving from the colonies. This was several years before 
the introduction of good steam pumping engines, which between 1775 
and 1790 — through the improvements and inventions made by Watt in 
the engines of Savery and Newcomen — reached such a degree of per- 
fection that good steam pumps were put in every prominent colliery, 
and the amount of coal mined reached enormous proportions as the cost 
of mining it was lessened. 

IRON FURNACES IN ENGLAND. 

The following statement shows the growth of the iron industry in 
♦ England during eighty-five years prior to the introduction of the loco- 
motive, in 1825 : 



Tear. 



17-10 
1788 

179G 

1802 
1806 
1825 



Iron. 



Charcoal iron . 
^Charcoal iron . 
tPit coal (coke) 

c .. do 

^Charcoal 

Pit coal (coke) 

....do 

...do 



Number of 
furnaces. 


Production. 


59 


Tons. 
17, 350 


24 


13, 100 


53 


48, 800 


121 


124, 879 


None. 




168 


170, 000 


227 


250, 000 


305 


GOO, 000 



*The locomotivo ' : Stombrhlgo Lion," a full sized mo'lelof which is in the Section 
of Transportation and Engineering in Iho U. S. National Museum. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



657 



Thus, even before the successful introduction of the locomotive, coal, 
iron, and the railroad had become three equally important factors in 
the creation of the great systems of transportation, which have made 
our prosperity and the higher civilization of to day possible. 

CAST IRON FIRST USED FOR RAILS IN ENGLAND. 

The price of iron was materially reduced as coal became cheap and 
abundant, and at length it became possible to use it in the construction 
of rails. The earliest iron used in track construction was cast in plates 
3 or 4 feet long, 2 or 3 inches wide, and one-half or three-fourths of an 
inch thick. These plates were spiked on top of the wooden stringer 
rail where the wear was the greatest. 

As timber was dear in England at the close of the last century, many 
attempts were made to devise a cast-irou rail that should suit the traffic 
of the English tramroads. 

We have in the collections several models of the cast-iron rails that 
were used from 1789 to 18L6. A fair impression can be obtained of the 
crude ideas that the early English tramway contractors had in regard 
to rails from an examination of the drawings. 

Fig. 23, cast-iron edge rail, 1789. Patented in England by William 
Jessop, mine engineer, and laid on a road in Loughborough. The rail 
was fish-bellied, and at first was not supported by a chair, the wood or 




Fig. 23. 
Jessop's Patevt Edge Rah.. (1789.) 

(From model in tlie U. S. National Museum ) 

stone block being hewn to fit the end of the rail. Near the ends the rail 
had a flat projecting base, in which there were holes for the bolts which 
fastened them to the wooden block or sleeper. 

Fig. 24, cast edge rails, 1797, with joints supported by chairs. These 
were the first chairs adopted, and were cast theTeverse of the ends of 




Fi K . 24. 
Edge Rails, Lawson Colliery, Nkw Castle-ox-Tyne. (1797.) 

(From model m the b\ S. National Museum.) 

the rail, having two bolts through the stem of the rail at each joint. 
They were laid on the Lawson Main Colliery Road, New-Castle-on-Tyne, 
England, by Mr. Barnes, and were at first supported by timber but 
finally by stone blocks. 

H. Mis. 221, pt. 2 42 



658 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



Fig. 25, cast edge rails, 1802; 4 feet G inches long. Invented by Mr. 
Wyatt, and used on the railway at the slate quarry at Lord Penrhyu's 
estate, near Bangor, North Wales. The general shape of the cross-sec- 




Fig. 23. 
Wyatt's Hexagonal Rail, Bangor, Noutii Wales. (1802.) 

(From model in tlie l T . S. National Museum.) 

tion of this rail was a hexagon. At each end of the rail a dove-tail 
block, 2 inches long, was cast at the bottom. This was slipped into a 
chair, which had previously been attached by a bolt to the wooden or 
stone support. 

Fig* 20, cast tram rail, 1803, " with flange higher in the middle and a 
nib under the tread to add strength." Used on the Surrey Eailway, 




SEC AT/iA. 

Fig. 26. 
Tram Rajl, Sukrky Railway. (1803.) 

(From model in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

England. These rails had a rectangular notch, half square, in the ends, 
the joints being completed by one square-headed iron spike, which was 
countersunk. 

Fig. 27, cast rail with concave top, 1803. To be used also by road 
wagons and to be imbedded in common roads. This rail, patented by 



P£RSP£CT/I/E V/EV\/ 




BOTTOM V/EW 
Fiji. 27. 
Woodhoi/RE's Pa'iext Concave Rail foil Wagons. 

(From model hi th." U. S. National Museum.) 

Josiah Woodhouse, was fastened to transverse cross ties by bolts slipped 
into slits through the base. 

Among the most interesting relics in the collection are two of the 
cast tram rails, 3 feet long, from the track from Penydarren Works to 
Glamorgan, near Aberdare Junction, Wales. These rails were a. por- 
tion of the original track upon which Trevithick's first locomotive, to 
help man, ran in 1801, and was a gift of J. W. Widdowson, Esq., Lon- 
don and Northwestern Railway of England, to the U. S. National 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 659 

i 

r Museum. A drawing of these rails with the stone supports, one of 

which is also in the collection, is shown in Fig. 28. 




Fisr. 28. 
Tram Rail, Penydarken Works to Glamorgan Canal, Wales. (1804.) 

(Original in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

Fig. 20 is drawn from a model of a cast tram rail, designed to be laid 
without bolts or spikes. Charles Le Cann, of Llannelly, Wales, in 1808, 




Fij?. 29. 
Tkam Rail, Drsigned by Charles Le Cann, Llannelly, Wales. (1801.) 

( From mo<|p| in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



received a premium of 20 guineas from the Society of Arts for the inven- 
! tion ofgthis rail, which was ingenious in construction. Projecting pins, 



660 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



pyramidal in shape, were cast on tbe bottom of the tram rail at the 
poiuts where the stone supports came under the rail, the joints being 
dovetailed into each other; the need of any other form of joint fixture 
was thus dispensed with. These rails were about 5 inches wide, and 
weighed 42 pounds per yard. 

Fig. 30 is from a model of a cast rail patented by Losh and George 
Stephenson, of Killings worth, England, in 1816. A half-lap joint was 
used, through which a horizontal pin was passed transversely and 




Fit;. 30. 

Edge Rail, Patented ry Losh and Stephenson, laid ox Stockton and Daut.inoton Railroad, 

1825. (1816.) 

(From model in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

joined the rails together, at the same time fastening them to the cast- 
iron chair. A large portion of the Stockton and Darlington Railroad 
was laid with this rail in 1825. 

ROLLED IRON RAILS INTRODUCED. 

Early in this century inventive genius increased the power of the 
stationary engine and the efficiency of the steam blast and of the ma- 
chinery for working and handling iron. 

The puddling furnace, first used in 1784, was radically improved by 
Henry Cort about the beginning of the century. He also invented and 
introduced the rolling mill about the same time, so that it became pos- 



Fig. 31. 
Lord Carlisle's Wrought-Iron Rail. (1811.) 

( From model in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

^ible to roll iron rails cheaply. These were at first rolled in lengths of 
about 12 feet. Drawings from the models of the early English rolled 
rails are shown. 

Fig. 31 is a bar rail laid in Lord Carlisle's quarries, 1811. 

Fig. 32, wrought iron rail, patented 1820, by John Birkenshaw, of 
the Bedlington Iron Works, England. A clause in the patent specifi- 



Fig. 32. 
Wrought-Iron Rail, Patented ry John Birkenshaw. (1820.) 

(From model in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

cations reads : u The upper surface to be slightly convex to reduce 
friction. The upper part to rest on supporting blocks, chairs, and 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN KAIL AND TRACK. 



661 



sleepers. The wedge form is used because the strength of a rail is 
always proportioned to the square of its breadth and depth. Hence 
this (wedge) form of rail possesses all the strength of a cube equal to 
its square. The joints are made with a piu." Birkenshaw showed 
great ingenuity in designing the rolls by which these rails were fairly 
rolled in lengths of 18 feet. Cast bars were soon after dispensed with. 
The model is made from drawings and specifications, English patent 
No. 4503, to John Birkenshaw, sealed October 23, 1820. 

Fig. 33, wrought-iron edge rail with fish-bellied web. These rails 
were used by Stephenson in 1820 in laying the Liverpool and Man- 




SEC rftW'CH/ilR. 

Fig. 33. 
Fish-Belly Rail, Designed by Geouge Stephenson and laid on the Manchester and Liver- 
fool Railway. (1829.) 

(From model m the U. S. National Museum.) 

Chester Railway. Chairs used at joints; rails 15 feet long; supports 3 
feet apart; weighed 35 pounds per yard. 

Fig. 34 shows a cross section of the original rail laid on the old Port- 
age Railroad over the Allegheuy Mountains in Pennsylvania. These 




Fig. 34. 

English Rolled Rail, Clarknce Pattern', laid on the old 

Postage Railway of Pennsylvania, 1833. 

(From original in the 17. S. National Museum. ) 

rails were imported from England in 1832 and laid in 1833. A section 
of this rail is in the collection. A portion of the New Jersey Railroad 
(from Jersey City to New Brunswick) was also laid with y rails of the 
fish-belly pattern, similar to Fig. 33. 



6G2 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



Ill Fig. 35 the dotted line indicates the depth of the rail between the 
ties. The plate is from an original rail in the collection which was laid 




Fi£. 35. 
English Fish-Belly Rail, Laid on the New Jersey Railroad near Newark, 1832. 

(From original in the U. S. National Museum.) 

near Newark, New Jersey, in 1831. It was the original design to lay 
the whole Portage Railroad with stone blocks and f rails. 

THE ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 

» 

In 182o-'27 a few isolated coal tramroads existed in the mining re- 
gions in Pennsylvania and Virginia and in the stone quarries in Massa- 
chusetts. These roads were laid with wooden rails, capped with thin 
merchant bar iron. About this time the Pennsylvania Society for the 
Promotion of Internal Improvement sent an engineer abroad to exam- 
ine the English railways. The fully illustrated report made by Wil- 
liam Strickland, published during the year 1826, shows that rapid ad- 
vances iu track construction had been made in Great Britain during 
the preceding decade, notwithstanding the fact that comparatively few 
locomotives were at work and only one railway for general traffic had 
been opened.. 

This report, without doubt, contained the most trustworthy informa- 
tion obtainable at that time by American railway projectors. 

But America presented a very different problem from England to the 
pioneer railway builders. England was an old country, rich in com- 
merce and foremost in manufactures, of comparatively small area and 
very densely settled, haviug a population of nearly two hundred to the 
square mile of territory, while the population of the whole United States 

was less titan four to the square mile. In the seven States, Connecti- 

* 

cut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
and Maryland, where most of the early railways were projected, the 
average population was a little over thirty-five to the square mile. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 663 

ENGLISH iND AMERICAN ENGINEERS. 

The British railway projectors had the advantage of being able to 
call into their service a trained force of civil engineers. Many of these 
engineers were connected with well-organized scientific societies, or 
were generally experienced in the construction of public works, and 
were familiar with what had been done for years on the coal trainroads; 
men on whose judgment the wealthy capitalist was willing to supply the 
money for the proposed improvement. England also had numerous 
machiue-shops fairly well equipped with tools and stationary engines, 
and many coal mines and iron foundries in operation, which made it 
possible to obtain without difficulty the material for laying the tracks 
with heavy rails firmly attached by strong chairs to the sleepers that 
were imbedded in stone ballast. 

With the exception of making the rail heavier, and using steel instead 
of iron, and substituting an iron for the wooden cross-tie, and strengthen- 
ing the splice chair, there has been no great change in the English 
system of track laying in the last fifty years. 

Many of the civil engineers who were first called into the service of 
the American railroads were connected with the Army Engineer Corps, 
having obtained their training at West Point, the only institution in 
the United States where engineering was taught during the first quar- 
ter of the century. In many cases these officers were detailed for a term 
of years to the "Board of Engineers for Internal Improvements"* to 
make surveys for various projected roads and canals. The preliminary 
surveys for the Camden and Arnboy, the Pennsylvania, and the Balti- 
more and Ohio Railroads were made with the assistance of officers of 
this Corps. 

In some cases, however, these surveys were made by caual or road 
engineers who had obtained experience in canal and turnpike construc- 
tion. On the railroads then built the curves and gradients were fre- 
quently sharp and steep, as few cuts or fills were made, and these cheap 
roads were quickly extended, through a rapidly growing country, with 
a view to connect the navigable water courses, and to unite with the 
steam-boat companies in forming " through lines." By the aid of these 
ruads the Western and Southern States rapidly increased in population 
aud commercial prosperity. In 1832 the South Carolina Railroad from 
Charleston to Hamburg, 135 miles long, which was then the longest 
railroad in the world, was a continuous trestle work, with rails of 
squared timber, capped with strap iron, framed to the top of posts, 
where gradiug woald have been necessary. 

*The Board of Eugineers for Internal Improvements received their instructions 
directly from the President of the United States, 1824-'32. 



664 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



AMERICA WITHOUT ROLLING/ MILLS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 

RAILROAD ERA. 

When the corner-stone of the Baltimore and Ohio Bailroad was laid 
in 1828, there was not a rolling mill in all the United State where rails j 
of the character laid on the Stockton and Darlington Railroad could be ! 
rolled ; in fact, the ouly rails rolled in America for several years after 
was the strap rail of merchantable bar iron 2J inches wide and five- 
eighths of an inch thick, the holes for the spikes often being drilled by 
hand. 





Fig. 36. 
Wooden Stringer and Strap Rail, Albany and Schen«ctady Railroad, 1837. 

(From a drawing in the U S. National Museum. ) 

On the Albany and Schenectady road strap rail was laid on longi- 
tudinal sleepers of wood, supported on trenches filled with broken stone. 
(See Fig. 36.) 




Fig. 37. 
Stone Stringer and Strap Rail, Haltimore and Ohio Railroad, 1833. 

( From original rail and stone block in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



V 



On the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, aud the Columbia road in Penn- 
sylvania, the strap rail was attached to the edges of stone blocks, which \ 
were laid on trenches filled with broken stones ; the corners of the stone I 
stringers were chamfered. (See Fig. 37.) 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN KAIL AND TRACK. 605 

A thick rectangular rail laid on the Baltimore and Port Deposit Rail- 
road in 1838 is illustrated in Fig. 38, from a drawing in the collection. 




Sr — 


WSSS. 


ss=^= 


^= -Z3?==E=E: 


J. 


i 

i 


^4 




i 


i 
i 








1 • 
1 | 






__ ! \ I 


1 

' 1 


T7 


i 





^/VJ Wooden Stringer, «'. 6" l -"- vs '^ 



Fig. 38. 

Thick Rectangular Rail, laid on the Baltimore and Port Deposit Railroad, 1838. 

(From drawing in the U. S. National Museum. 

Roads, such as the Camdeu and Am boy in New Jersey, Boston and 
Providence, Philadelphia and Germantown, and the Pennsylvania (then 
under State control), which did not adopt this construction, were com- 
pelled to obtain their edge rails and rail fastenings from England. 

The following memorial presented to the Twentieth Congress (H. R. 
Doc. No. 206) by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, and re- 
ferred to the Committee on Roads and Canals March 17, 1828, is of the 
greatest interest in this connection. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives o/Jhe United States in Congress assembled : 

The memorial of the president and directors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 
Company respectfully skeweth: That yonr memorialists have it iu contemplatiou, 
and are at this time taking measures, to construct a railroad, with at least two sets 
of tracks, from the city of Baltimore to the Ohio River, which will, it is estimated, 
unavoidably require not less than lifteen thousand tons of malleable iron. 

Your memorialists, taking into consideration the actual quantity of this indispen- 
sable article now annually manufactured in our own country, and further consider- 
ing the numerous lines of railroads already projected in different parts of the United 
i States, are confirmed in the opinion that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to pro- 
cure amongst ourselves a sufficient quantity for these numerous undertakings, and, 
gfpnsequently, that an enormous enhancement of the present price must be the inev- 
itable consequence unless supplies to a considerable extent be drawn from abroad ; 
which enhancement of an article so necessary both in the manufacturing and agri- 
cultural operations of the country would manifestly be injurious to both these im- 
portant interests. 

Your memorialists are persuaded that so enlightened a body as the Representa- 
tives of the people of the United States are fully aware of the vast importance of the 
Undertaking in which this company have embarked. It is indeed an enterprise iu 



666 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889, 

which every section of our country has a deep and vital interest. Its direct t ffect 
upon the prosperity of the nation, if successfully accomplished, and its beneficial 
influence in perpetuating the happy union of these States, is perceived and appre- 
ciated by all; at the same time it should not be overlooked that this great work, of 
such deep national concernment, and pregnant with such important consequences, 
has been undertaken, and so far conducted, by individual enterprise, and is still 
almost exclusively dependent upon private resources for its accomplishment. 

Under these considerations your memorialists take leave respectfully to ask of the 
National Legislature for the passage of an act authorizing the Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad Company to import from abroad, if it should be found needful, such sup- 
plies of iron and iron machinery as may be requisite for the construction of the pro- 
posed road, free of duty. 

In presenting these views of an object essentially national to the representatives 
of their country, your memorialists rely on the wisdom and patriotism of Congress to 
afford such relief as may be deemed proper, either by an exemption from duty or by 
a drawback upon the material actually used in the construction of the road ; at the 
same time they confidently believe that in granting the indulgence now asked for 
the best interests of the nation will be substantially promoted, whilst no injury what- 
ever will accrue either to the manufacturing, agricultural, or other important inter- 
ests of the country. 

Signed on behalf of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. 

P. E. Thomas, 

. President. 

The half century from 1825 to 1875 may be called the experimental 
era of the American railroad, since the experience obtained duriug that 
time has finally led to the adoption throughout the whole country of 
jui almost uniform standard of track construction, depending upon the 
traffic. To trace the changes in form aud the development of the 
modern American rail during this period is of the greatest interest. 



THE FIRST RAIL ROLLED WITH A BASE. 

From an examination of the minutes of the board of directors of the 
Camden and Am boy Railroad, September, 1831), I find that in the in- 
structions given to Robert L. Stevens, president- and chief engineer of 
that company, who had been ordered to visit England to inspect and 
report upon railroad matters there, he was directed to purchase " all 
iron rail," which the management of that company preferred to the 
wooden rail plated with strap iron. 

Mr. Stevens sailed a few days later, and it was during this voyage 
that he designed the first rail ever rolled with a base, whittling several 
model sections out of wood, which he obtained from the ship's carpenter. 

He was familiar with the Birkenshaw rail, with which the best En- 
glish roads were then being laid, but he saw that, as it required an 
expensive chair to hold it in place, it was not adapted to our country, 
where metal workers were scarce and iron was dear. He added the I 
base to the T rail, dispensing with the chair. He also designed the 
"hook headed" spike, which is substantially the railroad spike of to- 
day, and the " iron tongue," which has been developed into the fish- 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 667 

bar, and the rivets, which have been replaced by the bolt and nut, to 
complete the joint. 

A facsimile of the letter which he addressed to the English iron mas- 
ters a short time after his arrival in Loudon was published in the Ke- 
port on the Section of Transportation, 18S7 (page 79). It contaius a 
cross section, side elevation, and ground plan of the rail for which he 
requested bids. The letter reads: 

Liverpool, November 26, 18U0. 

Gentlemen: At what rate will you contract to deliver at Liverpool, say from 500 
to 600 tons of rail way, of the best quality irou rolled to the above pattern iu 12 or 16 
feet lengths, to lap as shown iu the drawing, with one hole at each end, and the pro- 
jections on the lower flange at every 2 feet, cash on delivery ? 

How soon could you make the first delivery, and at what rate per mouth until the 
whole is complete ? Should the terms suit and the work give satisfaction a more ex- 
tended order is likely to follow, as this is but about one-sixth part of the quantity 
required. Please to address your answer (as soon as convenient) to the care of 
Francis B. Ogdeu, consul of the United States at Liverpool. 
I am, your obedient servant, 

Robert L. Stevens, 
President and Engineer of the Camden and South Amboy 

Railroad and Transportation Company. 

The base of the rail which he first proposed was to be wider where it 
was to be attached to supports than in the intervening spaces. This 
was afterwards modified, so that the base was made one width, 3 inches, 
throughout. Mr. Stevens received no favorable answer to his propo- 
sals, but being acquainted with Mr. Guest (afterwards Sir John Guest), 
then a member of Parliament and proprietor of large iron works in 
Dowlais, Wales, he prevailed upon him to have the rails rolled at his 
works. Mr. Guest became interested iu the scheme and accompanied 
Mr. Stevens to Wales, where the latter gave his personal supervision 
to the construction of the rolls. After the rolls were completed the 
Messrs Guest hesitated to have them used, through fear of damage to 
the mill machinery, upon hearing which Mr. Stevens deposited a hand- 
some sum guaranteeing the expense of repairing the mill in case it was 
damaged. The receipt for this deposit was preserved for many years 
among the archives of the Camden and Amboy company. As a matter 
of fact, the rolling apparatus did break down several times. "At first," 
as Mr. Stevens in a letter to his father, which I have seen, described it, 
" the rails came from the rolls twisted and as crooked as snakes," and 
he was greatly discouraged. At last the mill men acquired the art of 
straightening the rail while it cooled. The first shipment, consisting 
of 550 bars, 18 feet long, 3G pounds to the yard, arrived iu Philadelphia 
on the ship Charlemagne May 1G, 1831. The weight of the next ship- 
ment, several months afterwards, was increased to 12 pounds per yard, 



668 



KEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889 



t lie rail being 3J inches high. Over 30 miles of this rail was immedi- 
ately laid down. For sections of rail as designed and rolled see Fig. 
39. 




Fig. 39. 

Stevens Kail rolled with Convex Tor- and Base, designed uy Robert 

L. Stevens, 1830, generally used on American Railroads since 1836. 

Shaded section shows rail as originally designed, 1830. Section not shaded 
shows rail as rolled, 1831. 

(From original in the U. S. National Museum.) 

This rail was fastened to stone blocks with hook-headed spikes; at 
the joints were iron tongues fastened to the stem of the rail by rivets 
put on hot. This was the standard rail of the Camden and Amboy 
Railroad, 1831-'40. 

From a letter written by Francis B, Stevens to James M. Swank, esq., 
special agent of statistics, dated Hoboken, New Jersey, March, 188J, 
the following extracts are taken : 

I have always believed that Robert L. Stevens was tbe inventor of what is called 
the T-rail, and also of the method of fastening it by spikes, aud I have never known 
his right to the invention questioned. 

Mr. Stevens's invention consisted in adding the broad flange on the bottom, with 
base sufficient to carry the load, and shaped so that it could be secured to the wood 
below it by spikes with hooked heads, thus dispensing with the cast-iron chair, aud 
making the rail and its fastening such as it now is in common use. 

In tbe year 1836, and frequently afterwards, he spoke to me about his invention of 
this rail. The Camden and Amboy road laid with this rail was opened October 9, 
1832, two years after the opening of the Manchester and Liverpool Railroad. Of this 
I was a witness. This rail, long known as the old Camden and Amboy rail, differed 
but little, either in shape or proportions, from the T-rail now in common use, but 
weighed only 36 pounds to the yard. For the next six or eight years after the open- 
ing of the Camden aud Amboy Railroad it was little used here or abroad, nearly all 
the roads built in the United States using the flat iron bar, about 2£ by £ inches, 
nailed to wooden rails, the English continuing to use the chair aud wedges. 

My uncle always regretted that he had not patented his invention. Ho mentioned 
to me upward of forty years ago that when advised by his friend, Mr. P. B. Ogden, 
the American consul at Liverpool, who was familiar with the circumstances of his 
invention, to patent it, he found that it was too late, and that his invention had 
become public property. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 669 



A few years after,* on much of the Stevens rail laid on the Camden 
and Amboy Kailroad, the rivets at the joints were discarded and the 
bolt with the screw thread and nut, similar to that now used, was 
adopted as the standard. (See Fig. 40.) 

5 a 





Fig. 40. 
Standard Track of the Camden and Amboy Railroad, 1837. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum made from an engraving in "Engineering in North America" 

by G. Stevenson, London, 1837 ) 

Fig.. 41 shows how this rail was used on a superstructure on the 
piling through meadows and marshy ground. 





Fig. 41. 

Track, of the Camden and Amboy Railroad. Rails laid on piling 
through Marshes, 1837. 

( From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



Seo Stevenson's Engineering in America, 1837. 



670 . REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 

The Stevens rail did not come into general use for several years, the 
next road to adopt it being the Boston and Providence, about 1840. 

On the Boston and Lowell Railroad, Massachusetts, the fish-bellied 
rail was laid in chairs on stoue blocks. As late as 1847 the Hudson 
River road used the Steveus rail, supported by chairs, but these were 
soou afterwards discarded. 

THE FIRST AMERICAN TRACK. ^ 

Mr. Francis B. Stevens also informs me that in 1835 he was employed 
by the Camden and Ainboy company to make a profile of the road bed 
from South Amboy to Bordentown. At that time there were many 
places (the longest being a piece 2 miles long, from the wharf at Amboy 
to Deep Out) where the Stevens rail was spiked to the cross-tie accord 
ing to the present practice. This method was at first resorted to as a 
temporary expedient, on account of the delay in getting stone blocks 
from Sing Sing. In the meantime it was found that the wood ties were 
more satisfactory, and in a year or two all the stone blocks were re- 
placed by wood ties. Without doubt the Camdeu and Amboy was the 
first railroad in the world to be laid according to the present American 
practice. 

On other roads the wooden tie was afterwards laid on account of the 
high price of stone blocks and stone stringers, the use of which was 
originally contemplated. 

Speaking of the engineering practice in this era, the late Ash be! 
Welch said in his presidential address to the American Society of Civil 
Engineers: 

American engineers have often shown that poverty is the mother of invention. 
For example, they used wooden cross-ties as a temporary substitute, being too poor 
to buy stone blocks, and so made good roads because they were not rich enough to 
make bad ones. 

CAST-IRON RAILS MADE IN AMERICA. 

In Johnson's u Notes on the Use of Anthracite," he described tests of 
cast-iron rails made during 1841 at Lyman's foundry, near Pottsville, 
Pennsylvania. These rails were designed for colliery railways. They 
were only b" feet long. For 3 or 4 inches at each end the rail had a sec- 
tion similar to the Stevens rail; for the remaining 5J feet the rail was 
somewhat similar to the English bull-headed rail. 

Previous to the year 1842, when Congress passed the celebrated high 
tariff law, all imported iron rails were admitted to the country almost 
free of duty. The tariff on manufactured iron, agreed upon by that 
Congress, increased the cost of English rails so much that the railways 
were forced to seriously advocate the erection of American rolling mills 
for the special purpose of making rails. 






DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 071 



RAILS FIRST ROLLED IN AMERICA. 

•^-The first rail mill erected in this country was located at Mount Sav- 
age, Allegheny County, Maryland! The first rail was rolled in t lie 
summer of 1844. ) In honor of that event the Franklin Institute of 
Philadelphia awarded a medal to the proprietors in October, 1814. 

The rail was of the _Q_ form, similar to the Evans (British) patent, 
and the first few hundred tons manufactured were laid on the Balti- 
timore and Ohio Bail road, between Mount Savage and Cumberland. 



1 




-HR5T RA/LRDLLEO IN AMERICA- 

Tiff. 42. 
First Rait, Rolled in America, Baltimore and Oiito Railroad, 1844. 

(From a section of the original rail in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

A section of this rail, which weighs 42 pounds to the yard, was pre- 
sented to the National Museum by the late Colonel James Randolph, 
for many years consulting engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio Bail- 
road Company. Fig. 42 is drawn from the original, and is actual size. 



672 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889 
THE STEVENS RAIL IN AMERICA. 



Fig. 43 shows the Stevens rail as used on the Philadelphia and Read- 
ing Kailroad in 1837 




Fig. 43. 

The Stevens Rail supported pv Cast-Iron Chair. 
and Reading Railroad, 1837. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum.) 



Philadelphia 



The rail was supported by chairs. This method was believed at the 
time to be a considerable advance upon previous practice, but was soon 
abandoned on account of the increase in expense which it entailed. 

The Stevens rail was laid on the Vicksburg and Jackson Railroad in 
1840 (see Fig. 44). In the Southern States the longitudinal planks, 





Fig. 44. 
The Stevens Had- as laid on the Vicksburg and Jackson Railroad, in Mississippi, 1841. 

( From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

which were placed under the ends of the cross-ties on many of the rail- 
roads, were called " mud-sills," and this name became historic during 
the civil war, 1861-'65. 

The Stevens rail had come into general use in America before 1845, 
although several railway companies which had imported T-rails from 
England continued their use on their tracks until the rails were worn 






DEVELOPMENT OP THE AMERICAN KAIL AND TRACK. 673 

put. For this reason the T-rail without l>ase was in use on the Boston 
lid Worcester in 1850 (see Fig. 45), and on the Hempstead Branch of 
he Long Island Railroad as late as 1855 (see Fig. 40). 




Fig. 45. Fig. 46. 

T-Rail, Boston and Worcester Railroad. T-Rail. Hempstead Branch, Long Island 

r (From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) RAILROAD, 1855. 

(From model in tlie V. S. National Museum.) 

Every American road, however, without exception, replaced the 
Trail and strap rail, by rail of the Stevens pattern, as rapidly as their 
financial condition permitted, continuing to import all rails from Eng- 
land until 1845. 

THE STEVENS RAIL FIRST ROLLED IN AMERICA, 1845. 

In the History of Iron of all Ages Swank states (p. 344) : 

The Montour Rolling Mill, at Danville, Pennsylvania, was built in 1845 expressly 
to roll rails, and here were rolled in October of that year the first T-rails* made in 
the United States, and that the first T-rail rolls in this country were made for the 
Montour Iron Company by Haywood & Snyder, proprietors of the Colliery Iron 
Works at Pottsville, the work being done at their branch establishment at Dan- 
ville, Pennsylvania, 1846. 

Among other early rail mills were the following, with the date when 

*As the form of the English T-rail was dispensed with in America, rails of the Ste- 
vens pattern (called H rail in 1832) have been known as T-rails for many veaio. 
H. Mis. '224, pt. 2 43 



674 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



they began to roll rails : Boston Iron Works, May 6, 1846 ; Trenton Iron 
Works, Cooper & Hewitt, proprietors, June, 1846 $ New England Iron 
Company, Providence, Rhode Island, September 1, 1846; Phcenix Iron 
Company, Phcenixville, Pennsylvania, November, 1846. 

The rapidity with which American capital was diverted in this di- 
rection, has for the last forty years been one of the great arguments 
used by the advocates of a high tariff for the protection of American 
industties. 

During the year 1848 a very interesting experiment was tried by the 
Camden and Amboy Railroad. Arrangements were made with Cooper 
& Hewitt, at the Trenton Iron Works, to roll a 92-pound rail, 7 inches 
high, with a base 4| inches wide; 15 miles of the Camden and Amboy 
road were laid with this rail the following year. The engineer of that 
company believed that he had at last solved the problem of track con- 
struction v inasmuch as this rail gave an admirable opportunity for a 
strong joint. By experience it was found that this rail was too rigid, 
and produced so much concussion by the train that the ends soon ham- 
mered out, and where the ballasting was imperfect great damage was 
caused to the rolling stock ; consequently the rail was soon after taken 
"up. Much of tinVold rail found its way to the cities, where it was 
bought by architects and contractors for building purposes.* 

The fact that this rail was rolled successfully resulted in the intro- 
duction of the "I" beam for architectural purposes, Cooper & Hewitt 
having done a large business at the New Jersey Iron Works, at Tren- 
ton, in this line ever since that time. Fig. 47 is drawn from a section 




Fig. 47. 
92-pound Rail, 7 inches high, Camden and Amboy Railkoad, 1848. 

(From original section in the U. S. National Museum.) 

of this rail in the collection. It was laid between Bordentown and 
Burlington in 1849. 

* Among other places, many of these rails were used for beams in the United States 
Mint at Philadelphia. 



1 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



675 



i 



PEAR-SHAPED RAILS. 

J The early American T-rails were made of inferior iron, and this whs 
f ie of the causes that led to the adoptiou of the section with a pear- 
ij faped head, with which many roads were laid during the next fifteen 

• twenty years. 

Sections of fonr of the pear-shaped rails described in the report of the 

lilroad commission of the State of New York for 1845 are in the col- 
lection. 

Cross-sections of these rails are shown. 

Fig. 48 is a pear-shaped rail. New York and Erie Railroad. Fifty- 
six pounds to the yard. In use in 1855. 

Fig. 49 is a pear-shaped rail. New York Central Railroad. Fifty-six 
pounds to the yard. In use in 1855. 

Fig. 50 is a pear shaped rail. Buffalo, Corning and New York Rail- 
road. Sixty-two pounds to the yard. In use in 1855. 

Fig. 51 is a pear-shaped rail. Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad. 
Sixty-five pounds to the yard. In use in 1855. 



j- 






Figs. 48, 49, 50, 51. 
Pear-Headed Rails, 1855. 

(From models, full size, in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

The obtuse angle between the lower side of the head and the stem of 
the rail made it difficult to apply a splice bar of any kind to advantage, 
and this fact led to the introduction of the ring joint (see Fig. 120) (one 
iron ring passing through two slots, one in each stem of adjacent rails 
and passing around under the base of the rail and held in position by 
1 a wedge driven between the ring and the rail stem). Chairs and other 
i| I joint fixtures attached entirely to the base of the rail were also experi- 



676 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



menled with, but generally without satisfaction, judging from the ft ct 
that none have survived. 

The difficulty in making good joints with the pear headed rail w as 
overcome, by some of the engineers, by planing away a portion of tl Je 
head of the rail for a foot or 18 inches from each end. In Fig. 52 is 







Fig. 52. 
Ekie Rail with ends stamped for Adams' Cast-Iron Bracket Si'lice, 1857. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum.) 

shown a section of the pear-headed rail, fitted for splice bar, used on 
the Erie Railroad. On this rail a cast-iron angle splice, containing four 
bolts and measuring 9 inches in length, was used as early as 1857. 

On the Pennsylvania Railroad and on the Belvidere-Delaware Rail- 
road, as will be seen in Fig. 53, the rails in some cases were planed with 




Fig. 53. 

73-pound Rail, Pennsylvania Railroad, Mountain Division. Under Head 

Planed for Splice, 1857. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

special reference to the use of a splice bar almost square at the rail 
head nud base, as early as 1857. 

In 1853 an interesting experiment was tried on the Boston and Low- 1 
ell Railroad. After running for some time on the head (pear-shaped) 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



677 



of the rail it was inverted. Fig. 54 shows the effect of running on the 
base for three years. The dotted line indicates the original sectiou. 




Fig. 54. 

62-pound Peak-headed Rail, Boston and Lowell Railroad. Showing 
wear after two years service, bottom upward. 

(From a drawing in the U. 8. National Museum.) 

COMPOUND RAILS. 



The difficulty in obtaining satisfactory joint fixtures on the Amer- 
ican pear-shaped section led to the introduction of the compound rail. 









i" 



f-^-Z'i— 




Cross 7%e 3<b*'6 and 7 JFee-L Lonjj % 

. i J 




Fig: 55. 

Compound Rail, Wood and Iron. Designed by B. H. Laikore, 1841, for Baltimore 

and Ohio Railroad. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

Fig. 55 is from a drawing of a compound rail of wood and iron de- 
signed by Benjamin H, Latrobe, in 1841, for the Baltimore* and Ohio, 



678 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



Kail road. The Z-iron was 5 inches high and weighed 45 pounds to 
the yard. The track consisted of longitudinal under sills, which sup- 
ported the cross ties, 3£ by G inches and 7 feet long. The wooden por- 
tion of rail was made to fit closely against the stem and under the head 
of the Z-irou, to which it was joined by five-eighths inch bolts with screw 
nuts. The iron and wood stringer was laid to i4 break joints," so that no 
splice bars except a base plate was needed at the joints. 

A section of an ingeniously devised all-iron compound rail laid on the 
Baltimore and Ohio Kail road in 1848 is shown in Fig. 56. A section of 
the original rail is in the collection. 




Fig. 56. 

Compound Kail, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 1848. 

( From original section in the V. S. National Museum. J 

Several of the railway companies in New York State laid a large 
mileage of compound rails of various patterns. 

Fig. 57 is a drawing of a compound rail weighing 75 pounds to the 
yard, on the New York Central Kailroad in 1855. 




Fig. 57. 
Compound Rail, New York Central Railroad, 1855. 

(From original section intlie U. S. National Museum. ) 

Four sections of compound rails in use in New York in 1855 are shown. 

Fig. 58. Compound rail. New York Central Kailroad. Sixty pounds 
to the yard. 

Fig. 59. Compound rail. New York Central Railroad. Seventy-five 
pounds to the yard. 

Fig. CO. Compound rail. Troy Union Railroad. Sixty-five pounds 
to the yard. 

Fig. 61. Wide compound rail. Troy Union Railroad. Sixty-five 
pounds to the yard. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



679 



Full-size models of these rails are in the collection. 

When the track composed of this type of compound rails was new, it 
is described by those who rode upon it as being the finest track of 
the period. No satisfactory nut lock was in use at that time, and as 
the screw-threads or rivets wore and traffic became heavier, the differ- 
ent parts of the rails could only be kept together by constant attention, 
in screwing up the nuts or putting in new rivets. As the rails laid 
were of iron, the wear of the inner surface was considerable, so that in 
a little while the track was badly damaged and the old solid rail was 
substituted. 




Figs. 58,59,60,61. 
Compound Kails, New York Central and Tuoy Union Railroads, 1855. 

(From models in the V. S. National Museum.) 

It is still an unsolved question whether or not, with some improve- 
ment in the section, and made of steel and held together with the im- 
proved bolt and nut-lock, the compound rail may be the rail of the 
future. 

POOR RAILS LAID DURING WAR TIMES. 

During the next ten years little seems to have been done by American 
railroad contractors to improve the shape of the rail or joint fixtures; 
in fact, during the civil war, iron was so dear that very little rail was 
rolled. Few new railroads were built and repairs to tracks were only 
made under the gravest necessity. Almost all the forms of rails which 
were made during these few years were designed by the proprietors of 
rail mills, who naturally adopted such shapes as were easy for them to 
make, and the railroads, when further delay was dangerous, went into 
the market and purchased such as were offered at the lowest price, 
without regard to the shape of the rail, the quality of the iron, or 
whether it was designed for light or heavy traffic. 



680 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889= 



THE ASHBEL WELCH RAIL. 



After the close of the war in 18G5, it became necessary to relay a 
large percentage of the mileage of almosc every railroad. Upon many 
of the roads some rails were in nse with which the roads were originally 
laid. The late Ashbel Welch, in "A Memoir on Bails," read before the 
American Society of Civil Engineers, June 10, 1874, states that "during 
the year 1865 the task presented itself to me of devising or selecting 
suitable forms of rails for the system of railroads occupying the central 
part of the State of New Jersey between Philadelphia and New York, 
of which I was the executive officer as well as engineer. 

The 62-pound Ashbel Welch rail, which was rolled by the Bethlehem 
Iron Company during the following year, was 4£ inches high, the base 
being 4 inches and the stem one-half an inch thick; the angle of incli- 
nation of bearing surfaces both on the top of the base and bottom of the 
head beiug 14 degrees. 

Figs. 62 and 63 are from original sections of the Welch 50-pound and 
62-pound rail in the collection. Substantially this form of rail was 





Figs. 62, 63. 
Ashbel, Welch Rails, Fig. 62, 50 Lbs. per Yard; Fig. G3, G2 Lbs. per Yard, 18GG. 

( From original sections in the U. S. National Museum.) 

adopted by the railroads in the Eastern and Middle States previous to 
the year 1S73, although when the rails were first laid the cross-section 
was strong^ objected to. 

Mr. Welch's labors in this direction led to his being considered one 
of the foremost rail designers in America, and in 1873 he was appointed 
chairman of a committee by the American Society of Civil Engineers 
to report on the " form, weight, manufacture, and life of rails," the 
other members being M. N. Forney, O. Chanute, and I. M. St. John. 
The report of that committee, presented at the annual convention, 
June, 1874, was the most exhaustive treatise on the subject of rails 
published up to that time. 

In Mr. Welch's memoir attached to that report, in alluding to his 
pattern of 1865, he states : "I made one decided mistake in this pattern 
by not having the outer bottom corners of the head sharp enough, or 
rather I yielded too much to the feeling against such an unsightly 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 681 

thing as an angle head." The rail proposed by Mr. Ohanute in the 
same report is not dissimilar to the section of standard 66-pound rail 
now in use on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy and several other 
railroads. Fig. 64 is from a drawing in the collection. 



>■ 1 




Fig. 64. 
Rail Proposed by O. Chanute, 1874. 

* (From a drawing in the U. S. Natiomi Museum. ) 

English engineers had, in the mean time, given considerable attention 
to the jQ. rail (or "box rail," as it is sometimes called) both in Eugland 
and in Canada. 

Imported _iQ_ rails were laid as early as September, 1835, on the 
Wilmington and Susquehanna Eailroad. In 1845 a modification of the 
_Q_ rail was laid on the Drogheda Eailway in Ireland — the rail being 
compressed inwardly at the bottom until the inside comers were made 
to touch. In America a small quantity of a similar rail was manufac- 
tured at the Mount Savage rolling mill, called " hollo vv rail." This 
was done by heating the rail after it had been rolled to size and passing 
it through a set of rods designed for the purpose.* 

A cross-section of this form of rail in use on the Great Western Rail- 
way of England is shown in Fig. 65, while in Fig. 66 a cross-section 





Fig. 65. 
Box Kail," Great Western Railway of 
England, 1858. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum.) 



Fig. 66. 

Great Western Railway of Canada, 

1855. 

(From a drawing in the IT. S. National Museum. ) 



of the _CL rail with a metal shoe running the full length of the rail to 
which it was bolted (thus adding to its strength), as used on the Great 



'If any of the rail was laid, I fail to find the fact recorded. 



682 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



Western Railway of Canada, is shown. Both of these figures are from 
drawings in the collection. 

The XX rail was in use in several of our Southern States during the 
war of 1861->65. 

It was fouud that the _Q_ rail was almost certain to fail when laid 
on cross- ties, and for this reason roads, notably the Nashville and Chat- 
tanooga, that used it always favored the superstructure with the rail 
bearing on a longitudinal stringer instead of a cross-tie. 




Fig. 67. 
Barlow's "Saddle-Back" Bail, 1856. Laid Without Supports. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

Fig. 67 is from a drawing of Barlow's "saddle-back rail" in the col- 
lection. This rail has an extreme width of 13 inches and were designed to 
dispense with the use of wooden ties or stringers in track construction. 

The rail was laid in broken stone with tie bars 10 feet apart. Nine 
hundred miles of this type of rail were laid in England prior to 1858, a 
mile or two also were laid on the Reading Railroad in the United States. 
"Between 5 and 6 miles of this rail, closely riveted together, were laid 
in England in 1856 and were in use for several years without experi- 
encing any difficulty from expansion."* 




c r p-'s 5 Vie *> v ( wo o a) 



Fig. 68. 
Triangular Wooden Stringer Capped with Iron, Great Western Bail way of England, 1857. 

(From a drawing in theU. S. National Museum.) 

A triangular wood stringer capped with iron was used on the Great 
Western Railway when that road was relaid in 1857. The rail was 
held in place by bolts as shown in Fig. 68, made from a drawing in the 



*Colburn & Holly, p. 92. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



683 



collection. As no splice bars save a thin plate to protect the wood at 
the end of the rail were used, this rail was expected to become popular, 
but its use was abandoned a few years afterwards. 

Previous to 1850 English rails were usually rolled in lengths of 15, 10, 
and 18 feet; by 1855 the latter length became the universal standard. 

As improved methods were adopted in iron manufacture, the length 
was increased in order to reduce the number of joints.* By 1857 rails 
were made at progressive mills 21 to 24 and 27 feet long and by 1860-'65 
the 30-foot limit was reached. 

Although longer lengths have been manufactured at a few mills, the 
30-foot rail has been considered the standard for over a quarter of a 
century. 

STEEL RAILS. 

The first steel rails in Europe are said to have been rolled at the 
Ebbw Yale Works, in Wales, about 1855. The steel was produced by 
the Uchaturis process. Zerah Oolburn states that "the quality of the 
steel is said to be equal to that used for razors." 

The difficulty in obtaining good iron on this side of the water led the 
more prosperous American companies to continue to import steel and 
iron rails from abroad for some years. 

Fig. 69 is a cross-section of the steel rails rolled at Dowlais, Wales, 
for the New Orleans, Memphis and Chattanooga Kailroad in 1869, from 
a drawing in the collection. 




Fig. 69. 

Rail for New Orleans, Memphis, and Chattanooga Railroad, 
rolled at dowlais, wales, 1869. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum.) 

STEEL BAILS ROLLED IN AMERICA. 

The introduction of Bessemer steel in America and the conflicts in 
the United States Patent Office, which finally resulted in a compromise 
and consolidation of the various interests involved, form a very inter- 
esting chapter in the history of American manufacture. 

In Swank's " History of Iron in all Ages" I find that "the first steel 
rails ever made in this country were rolled at the North Chicago Boil- 
ing Mills in May, 1865." These were experimental rails, only a few 

* In 1840 it was not uncommon to find eight hundred joints in a mile of single 
track. Now, 1890, the number is reduced to about three hundred and fifty. 



684 



EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



being rolled in the presence of a committee of the American Iron and 
Steel Association. 

The first steel rails ever rolled in the United States upon order in the 
way of regular business were rolled by the Cambria Iron Company, at 
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in August. 1867. In no one year during the 
uext five years were more than 40,000 tons of Bessemer steel rails man- 
ufactured in the United States. 

About 1870-73 attempts were made by several rail manufactures to 
roll rails that should have a steel head and iron web and flange — " steel 
top rail," it was called. A considerable quantity of this rail was rolled 
by the Trenton Iron Company for the New Jersey division of the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad Company. While this experiment was reasonably 
successful the lessened cost of making steel, soon afterwards made it 
practicable to make the whole rail of steel. 

The production of steel rails, which aggregated 90,000 tons in 1872, 
increased from year to year, so that in 1882, ten years later, the output 
reached nearly 1,500,000 tons, the price falling from $140 to $35, or 
one-quarter the cost of ten years before. 

During the last ten or twelve years no radical change has been made 
in the shape of the section of rails laid by first-class railroads. It is 
true that the constantly increasing weight of the locomotive and of the 
lading of the freight cars has made it necessary to use heavier rails — 
the increased metal being put in the head, where the traffic is heavy, 
or in the base (the base of some standard sections being made as wide 
as 5 or 5J inches), where the cross-ties upon which the rail is laid are 
of soft wood. The general shape of the rail has, however, been but 
slightly changed. 

Sections of the standard rails laid by the Pennsylvania Eailroad 
Company are shown in Figs. 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, and by the Chicago, 
Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company* in Figs. 76, 77 78 79. 





Fig. 70. Fig. 71. 

Pennsvlvanaia Railroad Standard Rails, 1870. 

(From drawings in U.*S. National Museum. ) 



* For abstract of letter from Mr. F. A. Delanoe, second vice-president Chicago, 
Burlington and Quincy Railroad, giving interesting historical data regarding rails 
used on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, see below. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



685 






Figs. 72-75. 
Pennsylvania Railroad Standard Rails, 1875, 1880, 1887, 1890. 

(From drawings in the U. S. National Museum. ) 




Figs. 76-79. 

Standard Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company'6 Standard Kails 

1868, 1880, 1885, 1890. 
(From chart furnished by Chicago, Hurlington and Quincy Railroad. ) 



686 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



Figs. 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, and 86 show sections of the rails manu- 
factured during various years at the works of the Bethlehem Iron CoUl- 





Fig. 80. 
Kail Rolled by the Beth- 
lehem Ikon Company. Ash- 
is el Welch Pattern, 62 
pounds, 1866. 

(From chart furnished by the Bethle- 
hem Iron Company.) 



Fig. 81. 

Rail Rolled by the Beth- 
lehem Ikon Company, C. V. 
and W. Railroad Pattern, 
50 pounds, 1870. 

(Trom chart furnished by the Bethle- 
hem Iron Company.) 



L.V. 

Standard 
40 (.as. 

peh YAF^O. 




Fig. 82. 

Rail rolled by the Beth- 
lehem Iuon Company, Le- 
high Valley Railroad 
Pattern, 40 pounds, 1875. 

( From chart furnished by the Bethle- 
hem Iron Company. ) 




Fig. 83. 
Rail Rolled by the Bethlehem Iron 
Company, St. Louis and Santa Fe Rail- 
road Pattern, 52 pounds, 1879. 

(From chart furnished by the Bethlehem Iron Company. ) 





Fig. 84. 

Rail Rolled by the Bethlehem Iron 
Company, Missouri Pacific Railroad 
Pattern, 52 pounds, 1881. 

(From chart furnished by the Bethlehem Iron Company. ) 





Fig. 85. 
Rail Rolled by the Bethlehem Iron 
Company, Philadelphia and Reading 
Pattern, 90 pounds, 1886. 

(From chart furnished by the Bethlehem Iron Company. ) 



Fig. 86. 

Rail Rolled by the Bethlehem Iron 
Company, "Meat- Yard Pattern," 1884. 

(From chart furnished by the Bethlehem Iron Company.) 



pany. The plates are made from drawings courteously furnished by 
the officials of this company. 



i 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



687 



Sections of rail rolled by the Phoenix Iron Works during the years 
1855, 1856, and 1857 are illustrated under the paragraph devoted to 
splices. (See Figs. 115, 116, 117.) 



THE STEVENS RAIL IN EUROPE. 

About 1837 a rail with a base similar to the Stevens rail was designed 
by Charles Blacker Yignoles, an English railway engineer, and the 
names "Vignoles's rail" and "contractor's rail" have been applied to 
the various modifications of the Stevens rail, both in England and on 
the continent, since that time. 

A section of the Stevens rail, 4J inches high, with a base 6 inches 
wide, in use ou the Great Western Railway of England in 1858, is 
shown in Fig. 87, which is made from a drawing in the collection. This 




I/i Great Western of England.'/ 
W////////////'/iR€nl for Longitudinal System,.'/ 
W///////////M//// frrr////////^^ 

Fig. 87. 



Stevens Rail laid on Great Western Railway, of England (longitudinal system), 1858. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum, i 

rail was made with a wide base in order that it should have sufficient 
bearing on the stringer, to which it was attached by screw bolts. The 
Great Western was a broad-gauge railroad, the gauge being 7 feet. 





Fig. 88. 
Stevens Rail adopted by the Royal 
Railway of Sweden, 1854. 

(From drawing in the U. S. National Museum.) 



Western Railway or Trance, 
Swiss .Cordova, and Seville. 



Fig. 89. 

Stevens Rail in use on the Western 
Railway of France, 1855. 

[From drawing in the U. S. National Museum.] 



The types of Stevens rail adopted by the Royal Swedish Railway in 
1854 and by the Western Railway of France in 1855 are shown in 
Figs. 88 and 89, made from drawings in the collection. 



688 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



A cross-section of the " rail Vignole," about 5 ^ inches high, with a 
base 5£ inches wide, in use on the Chemin de fer Du Nord, France, in 
1888, is shown in Fig. 90, which is made from a drawing in the collec- 
tion. 




Tig. 90. 

Stevens Rail, Chemin de fer du Nord, France, 1888. (Called the Vignole 

Rail in Europe). 

( From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

A cross-section of the standard rail adopted by the Belgian authori- 
ties for the government railroads, 1889, is shown in Fig. 91. This mod- 
ification of the Stevens rail was designed by Mr. 0. P. Sandberg, with 




Pig. 91. 
Standard Rail of Belgian Government Railways, 1889. Sanduerg section. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum.) 



special reference to joint fixtures, cost and speed, and the lading of the 
trains which are to run over it. The rail is 5f inches high, with base 
5£ inches wide, and weighs about 100 pounds per yard. 



THE "BULL-HEADED" RAIL. 

The bull-headed rail was originally designed with a view to use first 
the top and, after the top had become worn, the bottom as a running 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



689 



surface, and in some cases as shown in the rail laid on the Strasbourg 
Railway in 1858, the top and bottom were rolled exactly alike. (See 
Fig. 92, made from the drawing in the collection.) But as it was found 





Bull-Headed Hail — Strasbourg 
Railway, 1858. 

( From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



Fig. 93. 

Bull-Headed Rail— Avigxox and 

Marseilles Railway, 1858. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



that the wear of the rail in the chairs made the lower surface rough, 
this practice was abandoned, and a larger portion of the metal has since 
generally been put into the head to give increased wearing surface. A 
section of the rail designed with this end in view, and in use on the 
Avignon and Marseilles Railway in 1858, from a drawing in the collec- 
tion, is shown in Fig. 93. 

English railway managers continue to lay the u bull-headed" rail in 
chairs in a very similar manner to what was done fifty or sixty years 
ago. 





Fig. 94. 

Bull-headed Rail— Bath Branch Great 

Western of England, 1858. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum.) 



Fig. 95. 

Bull-headed Rail— London and North- 
western Railway, 1889. 

(From original in the U. S National Museum.) 



Cross-sections of the rail laid on the Great Western Railway in 
1858 is shown in Fig. 94 (from a drawing in the collection), and a cross- 
section of the rail of the London and North western Railway in 1889 
is shown in Fig. 95 (from an original rail in the collection). 
IT. Mis..224, pt. 2 44 



690 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



STRINGERS AND TIES OF WOOD. 

The high price of iron led the engineers of many early roads, built 
upon a small capitalization to design a superstructure composed mainly 
of wood, as little iron as possible being used. The wooden rail, capped 
with strap-iron, previously alluded to, was attached to longitudinal 
stringers, and these were kept " in line " by cross timbers 4, 5, and some- 
times 6 feet apart. 

On roads laid with English T-rails in chairs, or with the Stevens rail 
spiked to the support, the necessity for a longitudinal support for the 
rail did not exist, and the stringer being dispensed with, it became nec- 
essary to put the cross-ties closer together. 

Ties have been used from time to time of various widths, lengths, 
and thicknesses, split, sawed, and hewn, as illustrated in Figs. 96, 97, 
and 98. 




Fig. 96. 
Cross-tie— Split quarter Log. 




Fig. 97. 
Cross-tie— Split half Log. 



The specifications for cross-ties now require that they be hewn on 
both sides, as shown in Fig. 98, and that they be cut to exact lengths, 
96 or 102 inches. 




Fig. 98. 
Cross-tie— Whole Log hewn both sides. 



METAL TIES. 



The extensive use of metal ties in foreign countries has led a few 
American managers to put down a limited number of experimental iron 
ties on their roads. About two thousand iron ties of the standard 
adopted by the London and Northwestern Railway of England, were 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. C9L 

placed iii the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company about a 
year ago. Fig. 99 illustrates a steel cross-tie* with rail fastenings, in 






Fig. 99. 
Steel Tie and permanent way, London' and North western Railway, 1885. 

(From original in the U. S. National Museum.) 






the collection. It is the opinion of the chief engineer of the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad that the iron tie will not be extensively used in America 
as long as white-oak standard cross-ties can be purchased for $1 or less.f 
An exhaustive report upon the iron cross-ties used by European rail- 
ways, compiled by Russel E. E. Tratman, of the Engineering News, will 
be found in the report of B. E. Fernow, chief of the Division of For- 
estry, in Bulletin No. 3 of the U. S. Agricultural Department. 

* Presented to the U. S. National Museum by Mr. F. \V. Webb, general locomotive 
superintendent London and Northwestern Railway, Crewe, England. Compare Plate 
III (opposite page 1"24). Report of the U. S. National Museum for 1886. 

t Seventy cents is the price paid for a white oak cross-tie 7 by 7 inches, 8£ feet long, 
by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1890. 



692 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, i889. 



METAL TRACK IN ENGLAND AND HER COLONIES. 

Fig. 100 illustrates the steel cross-tie, riveted chair and wedge in use 
on the London and Northwestern Railway in 1889. Steel wedges as 
well as wedges of wood are used to keep the " bull-headed " rail in place. 




Fig. 100. 
Metal Track, London and Northwestern Railway of England, 1889. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

The iron cross-tie on the Midland Railway is somewhat similar to that 
used on the London and Northwestern (see Fig. 101 ). The chair, however, 




Fig. 101. 
Metal Track, Midland Railway of England, 1889. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

is attached to the cross-tie by bolts and nuts, instead of by rivets as 
in the former system. The ends of the ties on the outer sides of the 
double tracks are generally depressed as shown. Between the tracks 
the ends are left open, so that the ballast may be properly tamped. 




Fig. 102. 
Metal Track, Normanton Line, Queensland, 1889. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

Iron cross-ties are also used on the Normanton line, Queensland, see 
Fig. 102, the rail being held in position by an adjustable clip, on the in- 
side of the base, with nut and screw arranged so that slight corrections 
in the gauge can be made when necessary. 




Fig. 103. 
Metal "Pot" Tie System, Midland Railway of India, 1889. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum.) 

On the Indian Midland Railway the cast "pot" tie has been used with 
favorable results. See Fig. 103. The gauge is maintained by iron rods 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



693 



extending across the track and held in position by wedges driven into 
a slot in the end of each tie bar. 

HOLLAND, GERMANY AND BELGIUM. 

The "Post" tie, see Fig. 104, has been used extensively on the conti- 
nent of Europe. The section varies in depth and width at the center, 




Fig. 104. 
Metal Track, Holland "Post" Tie, 1889. 

( From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



quarter, and ends ; being the deepest in the center, an admirable op- 
portunity is given for ballasting. The rail is held to the tie by an adjust- 
able clip fastened by bolt and nut. 




Fig. 105. 
Metal Tkack, Gueat Central Railway ok Belgium, 1889. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

The iron ties used on the Great Central Kail way of Belgium (see Fig. 
105), are also made narrow in the middle, and the rail on this tie is fas- 
tened with a screw bolt, the head of which has a direct hold on the base 
of the rail. 




Fig. 106. 
Bergh and Marche metal track system, Elbf.rfeld Railway, Germany, 1889. 

(From a drawing iu the U. S. National Museum.) 

The Bergh and Marche system is used on the Elberfeld Railway, of 
Germany. The fingered fastening slides over the base of the rail, hold- 
ing it to the tie. See Fig. 106. 



694 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



On the Bight-Bank-of-the-Rhine Bail way, the Haarman longitudinal 
system is now in use (See Fig. 107). Iron cross- ties are first imbedded 






Fig. 107. 
Haabman Longitudinal Metal Track, Rigiit-Bank-of-the-Rhine Railway, 1889. 

(From ;i drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ; 



in the ground, and to these the longitudinal iron sleepers are fastened. 
The base of the rail is held in place by a very complicated system of 
fastening. 

FRANCE, EGYPT, SPAIN, ETC. 

The Vautherin tie, which is used on several French railways, is very 
similar in shape to that used on the Midland Bailway, of England, the 
chair being attached to the tie by bolt and nut. See Fig. 108. 




Fig. 108. 
Metal Track, Vautherin System, France, 1889. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



On the Egyptian Agricultural railroads the Stevens rail is laid on a 
series of short pieces of stamped iron which are held in place by tie- 




Fig. 109. 
Metal Track, Egyptian Agricultural Railway, 1889. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

rods. This system is in use through portions of Egypt where the traf- 
fic and character of the soil make it possible to use this system, which 
is similar to the "pot" tie system in India. See Fig. 109. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 695 

On the Bilbao and Las Arenas Railway, of Spain, a system (see Fig. 
110) is in use similar to the "Post" system as far as the fastenings are 




Fig. 110. 
Metal Track, Bilbao and Las Arenas, Spain, 1889. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

concerned. The cross section of the tie does not vary, however, either 
in depth or width. 

The bullhead rail is laid on " pot " ties on portions of the Central 
Railway of the Argentine Kepublic. This system requires the use of 




Fig. 111. 
Metal Track, Central Railway, Argentine Republic, 1889. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

the chair with wedge fastening, (see Fig. 111). The rails are held to 
gauge by iron tie-rods. 

JOINT FIXTURES. 

Failure of the rail at the joint has from the beginning of railway con- 
struction directed thought towards the invention of the ideal fixture 
" as strong at the joint as at any part of the rail," an ideal which, after 
sixty years of experiment, has not yet been attained. 




HETTON RAIL. 
1824- 




Fig. 112. 
Half-Lap Joint, Hetton Rail, 1824. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



The miter or " half lap joint" was used on the Hetton Colliery road 
in England in 1824. Fig. 112 is from a drawing in the collection. 



696 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



The wooden pin shown secured the chair to a short wooden pile driven 
into the ground. The rails were 4 feet long. The joint fixtures in the 
tracks laid with various types of T-rails* were chairs slightly longer 
than those in the quarters and middle of the rail, and the ends of the 
rail were held in place by wedges, as shown in Figs. 113 and 113a. The 




Figs. 113, 113a. 
Joint Chair and Wedge, Old Portage Railroad, 1832. 

(From original in the U. S. National Museum.) 

drawing is made from one of the original stone blocks from the old Port- 
age Railroad in Pennsylvania, 1832, with rail and chair complete, which 
is in the collection. The rails, chairs, and joint fixtures for that rail- 
road were manufactured in England in 1830. 

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE SPLICE BAR. 

The splice-bar or fish-plate was of necessity an American invention, 
since the Camden and Amboy Kailroad, which was the first iron railway 
laid without chairs, found it necessary to use it. In Robert L. Stevens's 
original specifications, each rail was to have a projection on the stem at 
one end, which was intended to be riveted to the stem of the adjoining 
rail. Owing to impracticability of manufacture this plan was never 




Fig. 114. 
Stone Block, Kail, and Joint Tongue laid on Camden and Ambot Railroad in 1831. 

(From original specimen in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

carried out, and joint tongues (an illustration of which is to be found 
in the Report U. S. National Museum for 1886, Figs. 1 and 2, Plate II, 
opposite page 122) were used. These iron tongues were attached to the 
stems of the rail with hot rivets. Fig. 114 is from a drawing made from 

* T-rails were first rolled in lengths of 8, 12, and 16 feet. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



697 



an original stone block, rails, and joint fixtures, which were laid on the 
Camden and Amboy Railroad in 1830 and taken out of the track when 
the road was relaid with cross-ties a few years later.* 

As will be seen by reference to Fig. 40 f the Camden and Amboy Kail- 
road Company used the fish plate with screw-bolt and nut previous to 
1837. This practice does not appear to have been pursued in England 
until ten years later. It is stated that " the fish joint (with bolts 
through the stem of the rail) was designed by W. Bridges Adams, 
1847, and has been applied throughout the London and Northwestern 
Rail way ."f 

Rolled fish-plates 18 inches in length came into general use about 
1850-'55. In 1858 those on the North Loudon Railway of England were 
27 inches long. Figs. 115, 116, and 117 are from drawings of the rails 




Fig. 115. 

Single Splice Bar for Rail, 
Rolled by the Phoenix Iron 
Company, 1855. 

(From chart furnished by the Phoenix 
Iron Company. ) 



Fig. 116. 
Double Splice Bar for Rail, 
Rolled by the Phcenix Iron 
Company, 1856. 

(From chart furnished by the Phcenix 
Iron Company. ) 



Fig. 117. 

Double Splice Bar for rail, 
Rolled by the Phoenix Iron 
Company, 1857. 

(From chart furnished by the Phcenix 
Iron Company. ) 



and splice-bars manufactured by the Phoenix Iron Company, of Phce- 
nixville, Pa., previous to 1857. The figures are made from a chart § 
which the company had prepared in that year to show the many 
shapes of iron they were prepared to roll. 

*On some roads the ends of the rails were simply spiked to the stone block or 
wooden stringer, and no attempt was made to fasten the rails to each other. 

tFrom Stevenson's Engineering in North America, 1837. 

t The Permanent Way of European Railways, Colburn & Holley, N. Y., 1858. 

§ This chart, the only one in existence, was forwarded by the Phceuix Iron Com- 
pany to Washington for inspection. For this courtesy the curator is indebted. 



698 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



Fig. 118 shows the standard splice bar adopted by the Pennsylvania 
Railroad in 1870. 




Fig. 118. 
Plain Splice Bar, Pennsylvania Railroad, 1870. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



WOODEN BLOCK JOINTS. 

The cost of the iron joint fixtures led to experiments with wood 
blocks as early as 1840. Many roads that had used nothing but spikes 
and iron tie plates at the joints, added materially to the strength of 
these joints by drilling the stem of the rail, and bolting a block of 
wood of the proper shape to the outer side of the rail. About 1860, 
some of the Eastern roads adopted a standard joint fixture composed 
of a wooden block 48 inches long for the outside of the rail and a short 
iron splice bar to fit closely against the stem on the inside. Fig. 119 is 




Fig. 119. 
Wooden Joint Block, New Jersey Railroad, about 1860. 

(From original in the U. S. National Museum.) 

drawn from a set of the original joint fixtures that had been in the 
tracks of the present New York Division of the Pennsylvania Kail- 
road for many years.* Many of these blocks were used with steel rails 
and made excellent track, when kept in proper repair. 

SLOT RAIL AND KING JOINT. 

About 1850, on some parts of the Camden and Amboy and West Jer- 
sey Railroads, the ring joint was used. A slot about 2 inches long was 
cut in the stem of each rail at both ends ; into these slots a ring was 

* Presented to the National Museum by Mr. James R. Smith, supervisor New York 
Division Pennsylvania Railroad, Newark, N. J. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



699 



slipped which encircled the base, to which it was secured by a wedge 
driven on each side of the stem between the riug and the base of the 
rail. 

Fig. 120 is drawn from a ring joint and wedges which were in the track 
of the West Jersey Railroad for many 3 ears.* 




Fiji. 120. 
Ring, Joint, and Wedge used ox the Wf.st Jersey Railroad. 

(From original in the U. S. National Museum.) 

About 1850, G. Samuels patented the method of scarfing the rail- 
heads and bending the ends of the rail so that the stems could be 
riveted together in the same way that boiler plates are put together, 
but this invention was not put into practice. 



THE ANGLE SPLICE BAR. 

As early as 1857 the angle splice bar (or cast-iron bracket joint, as it 
was then called) was tried on the Erie Railroad, The form of this splice- 
bar has been already illustrated in Fig. 52. It was abandoned after 
a short trial. 

The wrought-iron angle splice- bar, somewhat similar in section to the 
Adams cast bracket joint, seems to have come into use about 1868. 



*Presented to the Museum by Mr. W. McAllister, master mechanic of the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad, at Camden, N. J. 



700 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



Figs. 121, 122, 123, and 124* show the variations in form of the angle 
bar on the Pennsylvania Eailroad, 1875, 1880, and 1890. 




Fig. 121. 
Angle Splice Bar, Pennsylvania Railroad, I87. r . 

(From a drawing ia the U. S. National Museum. ) 




Fig. 122. 
Angle Splice Bar, Pennsylvania Railroad— 50-Lb. Rail, 1880. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 




Fig. 123. 
Angle Spltce Bar, Pennsylvania Rail- 
road, Standard for 70- Lb. Rail, 1890. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



Fig. 124. 

Angle Splice Bar, Pennsylvania Rail- 
road, Standard for 85-Lb. Rail, 1890. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



* These plates are from drawings in the collection deposited by Mr. Joseph T. Rich- 
ards, assistant chief engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



701 



Figs. 125, 126, 127, and 128* show the various standards of angle 
splice-bars adopted by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, 
1868, 1879, 1885, and 1890. 





Fig. 125. 

Angle Splice Bar, Chicago, Burlington and 
Quincy Railroad, 60-Lb. Rail, 1868. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



Fig. 126. 

Angle Splice Bar, Chicago, Burlington and 

Quincy Railroad, 66- Lb. Rail, 1879. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 




Fig. 127. Fig. 128. 

Angle Splice Bar, Chicago, Burlington and Angle Splice Bar, Chicago, Burlington and 

Quincy Railroad, 66-Lb. Rail, 1885. Quincy Railroad, 66-Lb. Rail, ie90. 



( From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



Mr. F. A. Delano, second vice-president of the Chicago, Burlington 
and Quincy Kailroad, in charge of the bureau of rail and joint inspec- 
tion of that company, has compiled the following data concerning the 
rails and joint fixtures on that road during various years, and has com- 
municated the same to the curator by letter, from which the following 
abstracts have been taken : 

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company, 

Second Vice President's Office, 
Bureau of Rail and Joint Rail Inspection, Tests, and Records, 

Chicago, Jane 19, 1890. 

Dear Sir: Regarding your request for standard rails in use on the Chicago, Bur- 
lington aud Quincy in 1870, 1880, aud 1890, 1 take the liberty of going further back 
than the dates you mention, in order to illustrate more fully the development of track, 
and show, if possible, what the tendency has been. 

When the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was first organized in 1854, 

* These plates are from drawings in the collection deposited by Mr. F. A. Delano, 
second vice-president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. 



702 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 

with 58 miles of railroad, the track was laid with compound or continuous iron rail 
riveted together. I have not a drawing of this rail, but you are doubtless familiar with 
the design. The rail was rudely similar to the present T rail divided in half vertically 
through the web, and these two halves riveted together broken jointed, so that the 
end of one half rail did not come at the end of another half rail. This made an 
excellent track for the time being, as the reports show, and indeed it was a very ex- 
pensive track, for the rail weighed some 72 pounds per yard and cost some $70 to $75 
per ton. This compound rail, however, soon began to show its defects, which I need 
hardly explain here, and some two years later, when the Chicago, Burlington and 
Quincy by consolidation with the Central Military Tract Railroad became an im- 
portant road with 138 miles of track, the f rail was adopted as standard and laid 
with cast-iron chairs at the joints. Wrought-iron chairs I find were also used to a 
limited extent at this time. 

In 186*2 the construction of the road from Aurora to Chicago, a distance of 35 miles, 
was begun, and for this purpose 3,500 tons of "the best quality iron rail were pur- 
chased of the Cambria Iron Company, of Pennsylvania, at a price of $65 per ton 
delivered at Chicago." 

The chief engineer, in his report for that^ear, says that the compound rail was 
being removed from track as rapidly as possible, and being replaced with new and 
rerolled iron X rails of the ordinary pattern. These T rails had a maximum length 
of 21 feet. 

In 1864 the general use of fish-plates, a flat piece of iron fitting close to the web of 
the rail between the head and the base, was adopted. The chief engineer in his 
report for that year says "the fish-joint splices make a smoother track, less liable 
to get out of repair, and cost less than the ordinary rubber chair." This allusion to 
the "rubber chair" rather puzzles me. I do not understand whether a piece of rubber 
was introduced into the bottom of the ordinary cast-iron chair to obviate the trouble 
from noise and stop the rattling, or not ; but I presume that this was the case. At 
this time quite a large proportion of the rail laid in each year was rerolled iron rail, 
and I find that the cost of rerolling. amounted to over $35 per ton at Chicago, and a 
good deal moie than that in 1865 and 1866, on account of the high prices for labor 
and material following the war period. 

In the summer of 1867, 3 miles of experimental steel rails were laid in different 
places in Illinois where they would receive very severe service. I can not learn the 
exact section or weight per yard of this rail ; but, from what I can learn, I imagine 
that the rail weighed between 56 and 60 pounds per yard, and was very similar in 
design to the old 60-pouud rail, shown in print No. 1, which I send you. This rail 
was laid with fish-plates similar to the then recent practice with iron rails, and as 
in the case of iron rails, it was laid with " supported" or "on-tie" joints, the ends 
of the rails being notched to admit of spiking at that point and prevent the rail from 
creeping. The first experience with this rail was not altogether favorable. Of 3 
miles of track laid, seven rails broke in the first year; in each case, however, the 
chief engineer tells us, where the holes in the splice bars had been punched instead 
of drilled. In the next two years, however, there were no breakages and in 1870 it 
was decided to adopt steel as standard for main track renewals or new construction. 
During the year 72 miles of steel rails were laid, which with the 6 miles already in 
track made 78 miles of steel rail out of 302 miles then in operation. The road then 
consisted of a line from Chicago to East Burlington and from Galesburg to Quincy. 
The steel rail then used was substantially the rail shown in blue print No. 1, which 
I send you, with a plain fish-plate and not the angle-bar, which was adopted in later 
years. 

In 1875 or 1876 an angle-bar was adopted for this rail, and this was slightly modi- 
fied in 1879. This provided for a "supported" or " on-tie" joint. The only difficulty 
with it was that the slot near the center of the angle bar was frequent cause for 
breakage at that point. In 1879, therefore, the 66-pound rail for a suspended joint 
was designed and made the standard. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 703 

In 1880 the length of the road in operation was 2,653 miles in Illinois, Iowa, and 
Nebraska. Of this mileage, 1,100 miles were steel rails. 

When the 60-ponnd rail was discarded as a standard in 1879, two sections of steel 
rail were adopted of a substantially similar design and weighing 56 and 66 pounds 
per yard, respectively, for lines of light and heavy traffic. The joint used on the 66- 
pound rail is already mentioned, and the joint on the 56-pound rail provides for a 
" supported" or " on-tie" joint, the idea being that with a stronger or heavier rail 
a suspended joint could be used, where it would not be a good thing for a weaker 
rail. Both these rails continued to be used almost up to the present date. During 
this period considerable dissatisfaction was found with the angle bar for the 56-pound 
rail, which, on account of its slot in the center, frequently broke. To obviate this 
difficulty, without seriously adding to the cost of the rail, I lengthened the angle bar 
at one end for this rail and the old 60-pound rail 5| inches, thus allowing the slot at 
the joint to be omitted, and yet preserving the on-tie or supported joint. This was 
adopted as standard early in 1889. During this period also considerable dissatisfac- 
tion was found with the suspended joint on the 66-pound rail, and in the latter part 
of 1889 the angle bar was lengthened 6 inches, so as to allow a three- tie supported 
joint, the same cross-section of angle bar, however, being used. 

Quite recently, in the year of 1890, the old 66-pound section of rail has been super- 
seded by a new standard, namely, the Northern Pacific 66 pound rail, with the angle 
bar. The notable difference between this rail and the other 66-pound rail lies in the 
fact that the distribution of metal in the different parts of the rail is more equal. 
The rail itself is stiffer and higher, and the angle bar very much stiffer. These differ- 
ences have been made chiefly by putting considerable less metal in the head of the 
rail, because we have found in practice that a very small portion of the head wears 
away, and that the rail is usually removed from track for other causes. 

You will note particularly what an advance has been made in perfecting the joint. 
After trying the suspended joint, we returned again to the supported joint, at thesame 
time making the angle bar much stiffer, bringing the bolt-holes closer to the end, and 
using seven-eighths instead of three fourths bolts. 

In the mean time the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad is experimenting 
with a view of adopting for lines of the heaviest traffic a heavier rail. In 1888 two 
sections of 85-pound rail were designed, and 7-£ miles of each section were rolled and 
laid in track side by side in 1889. In 1890 a similar amount of each section has again 
been rolled and laid in track. It is impossible at present to determine which rail is 
likely to give the best satisfaction, but we hope before spring to get some light on the 
subject. Besides the test in track which is being made of these two sections of 85- 
pound rail, quite elaborate tests of each section were made about a year ago at the 
United States Government Watertown Arsenal, the results of which I dare say you 
have seen. 

In the mean time, while we are debating what shall be the design and weight of 
our rail for the lines of the heaviest traffic, it is a settled fact that we shall not again 
buy for standard-gauge railroad any rail lighter than 66 pounds per yard. The 
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, owning and controlling as it does upwards of 7,000 
miles of railroad, always has large quantities of rail not sufficiently good for main track 
use, but which either with or without the sawing off of the ends is perfectly good 
for branch-line service, so that our lines with very light traffic will usually be laid 
either with the light rail which was originally put there or with second-hand rail 
removed from main line. 

Hoping that I have given you the information you desired, I have the honor to re- 
main, yours, truly, 

Fred. A. Delano. 

Mr. J. E. Watkins, 

Curator, U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. 



704 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



RAILS ROLLED BY THE BETHLEHEM IRON COMPANY. 

Fig. 129 is from a drawing presented to the collection by the Bethle- 
hem Iron Company through the courtesy of Mr. E. M. Mcllvain toshow 
the standard joint fixture of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, 1890. 




Fig. 129. 
Double Angle Sayre-Fritz Splice Bar, Lehigh Valley Railroad, 1890. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum.) 

The rail is of the Sayre pattern, and the splices are of the Sayre-Fritz 
standard. 

LETTER FROM THE BETHLEHEM IRON COMPANY. 

South Bethlehem, Pa., June 30, 1890. 
Sir : The first rails rolled by us were iron rails, and owing to our early record books 
having become mislaid, we are at a loss as to what to send you to be of any use. We 
inclose, however, under separate cover, a number of blue prints, that we trust you 
may be able to use to advantage. 

You will note that a great many of the sections on the blue prints are marked un- 
known. Records relating to these sections have been lost or mislaid. Where we 
were able to do so, the year the rail was rolled the section and name of the road using 
the rail has been noted on the blue prints. 

We also send you a blue print of a compound rail, which, however, we never at- 
tempted to make, the scheme not having originated with us. You will also find 
inclosed several sections designed by Mr. Robt. H. Sayre, with Sayre-Fritz splice 
plates. 

Respectfully, 

The Bethlehem Iron Conpany, 

E. M. McIlvain, 

Assistant to Vice-President. 
J. E. Watkins, 

U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN RAIL AND TRACK. 



705 



Several types of joint fixtures designed to support the base of the 
rail have been designed from time to time. Fig. 130 shows a joint of 
this type which was in use on a western railroad in 1869. Fig. 131 
illustrates the Fisher and Morris joint as improved by Mr. Clark Fisher 
in 1888, in which the base of the rail is made to take much of the strain 
at the joint. 




Fig. 130. 
Joint Fixture usrd on Western Kailroads, 1869. 

(From original in the U. S. National Museum. ) 




Fig. 131. 
Fisher & Norris Joint Fixture as improved by Clark Fisher, 1888. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

PRIMITIVE FROGS. 

Mr. Isaac Dripps, who in 1831 erected the locomotive John Bull at 
Bordentowu, New Jersey (all of the parts of the engine having been 
made by Stephenson & Co., New Castle-on -Tyne, England), has furnished 
the information for Fig. 132, which illustrates the manner in which a 
large _Q_ shaped staple was made to take the place of a frog at the 
point where the " turn in" track branched off from the main line at the 
engine house at Bordentown. 
H. Mis. 224, pt. 2 45 



706 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



When it was necessary to take the engine out of the house the _Q- 
was straddled across the rail the two arms dropping into holes bored 
into the sleeper. 




Fig. 132. 
jT\. Staple Iron used as a makeshift for a Fkog, Camden and Amboy Railroad, 1831. 

(From a drawing in the U S. National Museum. ) 

The iron of which the jQ_ was made was thick enough to raise the 
flange of the locomotive wheel above the top of the rail. After the 
engine was safely put on the main track the JQ_ was taken out, and 
both rails were right for the main line. 




Fig. 133. 
Frogs, Colliery Railroads of England, 1825. 

(From drawings in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



Frogs of various shapes were used on the colliery roads of England 
previous to the introduction of the locomotive. Fig. 133 is from a draw- 
ing in the collection, which was made from the report made by William 




Fig. 134. 
Frog, Old Portage Railroad, about 1835. 

(From original in the U. S. National Museum. ) 



Strickland in 1826 to the Pennsylvania Society for Internal Improve- 
ment, in which two types of frogs, which be examined while in England 
in 1825, are illustrated and described. Fig. 134 is drawn from an old 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN KAIL AND TRACK. 



707 



frog (deposited in the collection) which was laid on the old Portage 
Railroad about 1835. It will be noticed that the casting at the end of 
the frog is designed to fit the Clarence "["raH previously described. 

As the speed of trains increased, the cast-iron frog was found to be 
uusafe, and various forms of rail frogs were constructed. Fig. 135 is 



tyaudfo-RyhlhtmiTruck 




Fiji. 135. 
Rail Frog, invented by Joseph Wood, New Jersey, 1859. 

(From model in the U. S. National Museum.) 

made from a model of an old rail (shifting) frog in the collection. This 
type of frog was invented by Mr. Joseph Wood, of JRed Bank, New 
Jersey, in .1859, and formed the basis of the invention of many types of 
spring-rail frogs now in use. 




Fig. 136. 
Switches in Colliery Railroads, England, 1825. 

(From drawings in the U. S. National Museum.) 

SWITCHES. 

Two types of switches in use in England in 1825 are shown in Fig. 
136. The drawings in the collection from which these are made are 



708 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



iken from Strickland's report, previously alluded to. Among the early 
iorms of switches used in America was the lever switch, with the heavy 
iron counter-weight (see Fig. 137) to keep it in position. Sometimes 




Fig. 137. 
Switch with "Ball" Counter- Weight. 

(From a drawing in the U. S. National Museum. ) 

the "ball" was omitted, and the lever was secured by a padlock fast- 
ened to a staple driven into a cross-tie. 

It is to be hoped that an opportunity may be given to extent! the col- 
lection of frogs and switches in the near future, so that the history of 
the development of these two very important track-appliances may be 
preserved, 



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